Police spoke Dec. 11 with Brian Truax of Waynesboro, who reported that a direct deposit of $722 for unemployment, which he receives every two weeks, was not received on Dec. 7, according to court records.

Truax had set up direct deposit through Woodforest National Bank and had no problems with the first deposit, he said.

After looking into the issue, he discovered through the Pennsylvania Treasury Department that his email, PIN number and bank information had been changed on Nov. 21. The bank was listed as F&M Trust and the email address belonged to Lininger, his ex-girlfriend.

Truax told police he had not seen Lininger for two years, but she was a Facebook friend and had messaged him in December asking him to text her sometime, police said.

During the conversation, they spoke about unemployment and Lininger, who had helped him set up the unemployment payments in 2010, allegedly asked if he knew his PIN number, police said.

Truax denied giving her his PIN number but said he did give her his Social Security number and had not changed his PIN number since they broke up, police said.

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Throughout the text exchange, Lininger denied having Truax's money and said she shredded all his paperwork when they broke up, police said.
While police were at Truax's residence, a representative from the Treasury Department called him and spoke with police, stating the only way someone can change his or her information is by providing a Social Security number, name, and PIN number, police said.

On Dec. 19, a Treasury Department representative confirmed to police that Truax had changed his unemployment account information from Susquehanna Bank to Woodforest National Bank on Nov. 1, police said.

The department also confirmed that on Nov. 21, the information was changed again to F&M Trust and money was deposited there on Dec. 7, police said. Direct deposit for Truax was then terminated on Dec. 11.

A search warrant of the bank account at F&M Trust revealed that it belonged to Julie A. Straley and Richard E. Rogers, of 24 Cloverleaf Court, McConnellsburg, police said. Straley is Lininger's maiden name and Rogers is her brother.

It also showed $722 deposited on Dec. 7, police said. The beginning balance on Dec. 7 was $17.73 and there were six transactions that day totaling $680.03, police said.

"Whoever completed the withdrawals/purchases would have known that there had to be a deposit or would have placed this account well into the negative," police said.

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Samantha Cossick can be reached at scossick@publicopinionnews.com and 262-4762.